Liquid loop garments

ABSTRACT

Liquid loop garments provide thermal protection to the body of a user in hostile temperature environments. First and second superimposed liquid impervious, yieldable sheets are secured together at selected portions to form liquid barriers at preselected positions between the first and second sheets. The barriers and sheets define adjacent liquid channels which act to direct flow of a heat transfer medium passed into the garment. Inlet and outlet manifolds are each connected with a plurality of the channels so that heat transfer liquid can be passed into an inlet valve and distributed over the body of an individual with efficient control of temperature variations in the garment. The garment is particularly useful as an underwater diver&#39;&#39;s heating suit to protect divers from extreme cold environments normally encountered at depths.

United States Patent 1 Parker et al.

[111 3,744,053 July 10, 1973 LIQUID LOOP GARMENTS [7 3] Assignee:Sanders Nuclear Corporation,

Nashua, NH.

22 Filed: Feb. 11, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 10,472

[52] U.S. Cl 2/2.l R, 2/82, 165/46 [51] Int. Cl. B63c ll/02 [58] Fieldof Search 2/2, 2.1 R, 2.1 A, 2/81, 82; 128/400, 142.5; 257/306; 165/46[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,930,594 3/1960 MacCracken257/306 1,726,939 9/1929 Anderson 2/2 X 3,523,301 8/1970 Davis et a1.2/2.1 A 3,391,405 7/1968 Wiswell 2/2.1 R 3,521,628 7/1970 Piel 128/14253,452,812 7/1969 Betts 165/46 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 577,1015/1946 England 2/2.1 R

1,188,740 3/1959 France 2/2.l R 1,420,473 11/1965 France 2/2.l R1,115,414 5/1968 England 2/2.1 A

Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George H. KrizmanichAttorney-Louis Etlinger [57] ABSTRACT Liquid loop garments providethermal protection to the body of a user in hostile temperatureenvironments. First and second superimposed liquid impervious, yieldablesheets are secured together at selected portions to form liquid barriersat preselected positions between the first and second sheets. Thebarriers and sheets define adjacent liquid channels which act to directflow of a heat transfer medium passed into the garment. lnlet and outletmanifolds are each connected with a plurality of the channels so thatheat transfer liquid can be passed into an inlet valve and distributedover the body of an individual with efficient control of temperaturevariations in the garment. The garment is particularly useful as anunderwater divers heating suit to protect divers from extreme coldenvironments normally encountered at depths.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures EAIENTEDJUL 10 19% SHEETIGFS INVENTORSEUGENE K. PARKER KENNETH E. MAYO DOUGLAS 6. HARVEY ATTORNEY PATENTEDJULmma SHEET 2 0f 5 INVENTORS EUGENE K. PARKER KENNETH E. MAYO DOUGLAS G.HARVEY BY Maw ATTORNEY PAIENTEBJULIOIBH 3.744.053

' sum am 5 I i i i 4 1 INVENTORS 21 EUGE ARK R F/G.6. NE E KEN N ETH E.MAYO DOUGLAS GQ HARVEY ATTORNEY PAKNIEBJM 10 ma SHEET VHF 5 INVENTORSEUGENE K. PARKER KENNETH E.MAYO

DOUGLAS (3. HARVEY BY 6 a ATTORNEY PAIENIEuJuL 1 0 ma m s or 5 IN VE NTORS EUGENE K. PARKER KENNETH EMAYO V DOUGLAS GZHARVEY BY 0 AT TORNE YLIQUID LOOP GARMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thermal protection ofthe body of man in hostile environments such as the numbing and lethalcold found at underwater depths has long been a problem. Variousunderwater garments and complete suits for divers have been devised.Known divers suits include the use of flexible rubber tubes which arepositioned in a continuous loop in a suit with a heating liquid passedtherethrough. Such suits often do not adequately provide for thevariation in inlet fluid temperature to outlet fluid temperature causingsome areas of the body to be heated to significantly greater extentsthan other areas of the body. The problems encountered with knownunderwater divers suits further include making necessary provisions forgood temperature control, minimized weight, ease and efficiency ofmanufacture and comfort to the wearer in use.

An important object of this invention is to provide a liquid loopgarment for thermal protection at hostile temperature conditions.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment in accordancewith the preceding object which does not unnecessarily impede themovements of the body and which provides comfort in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment in accordancewith the preceding objects which is constructed to have controlled heattransfer liquid flow velocity and good heat distribution.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment in accordancewith the preceding objects which can be efficiently manufactured andwhich is effective to provide required thermal protection under avariety of different conditions.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a garment inaccordance with the preceding objects which permits a heat transferliquid to flow in alternative channels upon flexure of the joints of thebody in use thereby preventing blockage of flow and providing close tonormal heat distribution under all conditions of use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, a liquid loopgarment for thermal protection in hostile temperature environmentssubstantially conforms to the contours of a body portion over which itis to be used. The garment comprises first and second liquid imperviousyieldable sheets with one sheet overlying the other in superimposedrelationship. Selected portions of the first sheet are secured toselected portions of the second sheet to form liquid barriers atpreselected positions between the first and second sheets. The barriersand the sheets define adjacent liquid channels which act to direct flowof a heat transfer medium passed into the garment. An inlet manifold isinterconnected with a first plurality of the channels and an outletmanifold is interconnected with a second plurality of the channelswhereby heated liquid can be passed to the inlet manifold anddistributed over'the body of an individual with efficient control oftemperature variations in the garment.

Preferably the barriers are formed along sealed lines. In the preferredembodiment, selected ones of the sealed lines are discontinuous to formshort circuit heat transfer liquid flow paths on flexure of theundergarment at predetermined positions corresponding to flexure pointson a body with which the undergarment is used. In the preferredembodiment, arm sections, leg sections and a torso section are formed asan integral suit and a stretch material is incorporated at flexurepoints of the body.

In alternate embodiments of the invention, the garment is formed with anumber of portions interconnected with each other in order to increaseversatility for use with varying sized individuals.

It is a feature of this invention that the garments are comfortable touse allowing flexibility and flexure at joint areas of the body.

Another feature of the invention is ease of donning and removing thegarment from the body. The use of sheet materials with barriers formedtherebetween is extremely important to permit predetermined control offlow velocity and better heat distribution. The garments are preferablydesigned to cover all of the muscled areas of the body and act as ashield so that the body over which the garment is worn never feels theeffect of heat loss to an outside environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, featuresand advantages of the present invention will be better understood from areading of the following specification in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a semidiagrammatic front view of a preferred embodiment of aliquid loop garment in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective broken away view of an element thereof;

FIG. 5 is a perspective front view of the manifold section thereof;

FIG. 5A is a cross sectional view through line SA-SA thereof;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic showing thereof; I

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of an alternate embodiment thereof;and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary front perspective view of still anotherembodiment thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference now to the drawings,a preferred embodiment of the liquid loop garment of this invention isillustrated generally at 10 in the form of an underwater divers heatedsuit in FIGS. 1-3. The divers suit 10 has an integral body section 11,leg sections 12 and 13 and arm sections 14 and 15. Two hand sections 16(both of which are identical, only one being illustrated) and a separatehead section 17 act in conjunction with the integral portion of the suitto form a complete garment. Each of the sections conform closely to thecontours of an underlying body of an individual when in use.

The basic component of the garment 10 which forms the liquid loop for aheat transfer liquid is best illustrated in FIG. 4. An outer sheet 20overlies and is superimposed over an inner sheet 21 with the outer sheetbeing sealed to the inner sheet at facing surfaces thereof along lines22 to form liquid flow channels 23 substantially adjacent each other.The sheets 20 and 21 are preferably formed of a yieldable, flexiblesheet material such as an acrylic impregnated nylon cloth which hassubstantial physical strength and is impervious to the heat transferliquid in the channels 23. The specific material of the sheets 20 canvary considerably.

Preferably the sealed lines 22 are formed by conventional heat orsolvent sealing methods which include the use of ultrasonic weldingmethods. The heat sealed lines effectively provide barriers to directliquid flow within the suit in accordance with predeterminedrequirements. The channels 23 formed provide soft broad liquid flowpassageways preferably substantially in elliptical cross section whichoffer low flow resistance and minimum constriction at jointed areascorresponding to flexure areas of the body. Since the original sheetsused can be sealed as desired, flow velocities of the liquid in thegarment can be predetermined by predetermining the size of the variouschannels as required for body use. Thus, the cross sectional area of thechannels at extremities of the body as in the foot section may be narrowand be smaller than the cross sectional area of flow channels at themain torso portion as suggested in FIGS. 1-3.

Preferably the barriers formed by the sealed lines 22 are arranged toprovide for alternate flow paths in at least some adjacent channels asindicated by the arrows shown in FIGS. 1-3.

Short circuit paths for liquid flow of the heat transfer medium areprovided at selected points in the suit where flexure is likely inoperation and use by a wearer. For example, at points 25, 26, 27 and 28corresponding to the ankle, knee, shoulder and forearm or elbow,portions of the garment. These short circuit paths normally restrictflow of liquid from one adjacent channel to another but are designed tobe such that they allow liquid flow if an adjacent channel is blocked asby flexure of the knee or some other flexure point on the body in use.Thus, temporarily short circuit flow paths are established to enableregions of the suit to continue to provide a close to normal heatdistribution path. Short circuit paths are provided by spacing ends ofthe heat sealed lines 22 as diagrammatically shown so that the gapsformed between ends of the lines are small and restrict fluid flow undernormal pressure but permit flow when pressure in adjacent channelsincreases due to blocking off of the channels. For example, at the pathsshown at 26, the heat sealed lines 22a and 22b provide a gaptherebetween of approximately one-half inch which will allow liquid flowcirculation above the knee at times when bending of the knee, in thisexample, restricts flow along the longitudinal passages and then enablesthe restoration of longitudinal flow when there is no constriction inthe channel.

The channels are designed so that an inlet manifold 30 is formed at thewaist with a similar outlet manifold 31. Each manifold isprovided with aquick disconnect fitting 32 and 33 of a conventional type to permitconnection of liquid-carrying hoses. The liquid-carrying hoses provide aheated fluid to the inlet 30 and remove liquid constantly through outlet31 as is known in conventional liquid loop diving suits. Auxiliaryheating means (not shown) in the form of a back pack or othersupplementary means of providing warm fluid as is known in the art canbe used to heat and circulate the liquid.

The hand and head sections 16 and 17 are formed in the same manner asthe main torso section and are connected thereto by tubing 40, 41through quick disconnects 42, 43 and hoses 44, 45 interconnected withquick disconnects 46 and 47 at the rear neck portion of the suit. Asindicated by the arrows shown, hoses and 44 are inlet hoses to theremote sections while hoses 41 and are outlet hoses which enable liquidflow throughout the entire suit to be continuous from the single mainsuit inlet 30.

In some cases, the garment 10 need not be used in conjunction with thehand and head sections if desired.

Stretch panels of stretch material such as Lycra or other two-waystretch fabrics are positioned between separated portions of the suit atcritical areas to allow for comfort and extreme flexibility of thegarment in use as well as case of donning and removing the garment fromthe body. In the preferred embodiment, Lycra textile materials areinserted between separated portions of the garment at the knee sections44, foot sections 45, in seam sections 46, waist manifold sections 47,side seam sections 48 and neck and shoulder sections 49 as best seen inthe Figures. Similarly, stretch materials are provided at the front,center and rear of the head section as shown in the Figures as well asthe cuff portions of the hand sections.

In the preferred embodiment, a zipper 50 extends from the neck portionto the waist and forms the single fastening element used in thepreferred embodiment. The use of the zipper in conjunction with thestretch portions greatly facilitates use of the suit.

As shown by the arrows in the Figures, the channels are arranged andjoined to the inlet and outlet manifolds and to each other in such amanner as to provide desired liquid flow of the heated heat transferliquid. Articulation of the individual wearing the suit is notsubstantially restricted and flexure does not cause a stoppage of flowof the heat transfer liquid.

The inlet and outlet manifolds are formed by an additional sheet 20a aspreviously described and as shown in FIGS. 5, 5A and 6. Heated waterenters the manifold at point A. The water travels both to left and rightcircumferentially around manifold 30. The water travels up channels 1,4, 5, and 7 to return down channels 2, '3, 6 and 8. Note that 2, 3, 6and 8 cross under manifold 30 and the water from 2, 3, 6 and 8 entersmanifold 31, travels circumferentially around manifold 31 and exits viapoint B. Also, water that enters point A and travels circumferentiallyaround manifold 30 travels down channels 1a, 4a and channels at back oflegs (not shown) to return up 2a, 2a and channels at back of legs (notshown), i.e., heated water traveling downward (to legs of suit) frommanifold 30 passes through passages that pass behind or under (whenviewing suit from without) manifold 31. The return flow from legs andtorso exits at point B. Thus, the manifolds provide for openings to thechannels where indicated by the arrows sothat water flow in the manifoldtravels about the body and is directed to the channels as indicated. Insome cases, other conventional manifold means can be used if desired.

In the preferred embodiment 10, the garment does not have inner or outercoverings other than sheets 20 and 21. This garment can be used under aconventional diver's wetsuit or dry suit. In other embodiments such assuggested in FIG. 4, foam rubber such as close cell neoprene layer 20acan be formed as a flexible outer layer over the outer sheet 20 andintegrally joined to the sheet 20 to provide additional heat insulatingvalue. Similarly, an inner flexible layer 21a of a noninsulating fabriccan be attached to the inner sheet 21 so that an integral suit is formeduseful as the sole protective clothing used by a diver. However, it ispossible for the diver to wear conventional textile underwear and anouter neoprene or other insulating suit over the garment as desired.

It should be noted that the use of tubes such as 40, 41 44 and 45joining individual sections such as the main body section, hands andhead is useful to provide continuous flow of fluid in all of thesections while allowing complete articulation at the joints andenhancing ease of donning and removing the suit from the body of anindividual.

The specific liquid flow rates through the suit as well as temperaturesof the heat transfer medium used can vary greatly depending upon thetemperatures expected to be encountered.

Turning now to an alternate embodiment of the invention, as bestillustrated in FIG. 7, the principles of the suit 10 are used; however,the suit is formed in five sections comprising the torso section 61, armsection 62 and 63 and leg sections 64 and 65 each having inlet andoutlet manifolds as at 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72 and 73. The liquidflow channels are arranged as shown by the arrows indicated and the suitis formed of sheets 20, 21 sealed together at lines 22 as previouslydiscussed. Stretch material is used at preselected portions of flexureof the body as previously described and shown at 74. The main body torsocarries a zipper 75 to open the body portion when required. Suitabletubes 76 interconnect portions as described with respect to the suit 10of FIGS. 1-3.

A third embodiment of an underwater divers suit is illustrated at 80 inFIG. 8 wherein the suit is made up of hand section 81, forearm section82, upper arm section 83, body section 84, foreleg portion 86, upper legportion and foot portion 87. Although only one-half of the suit isillustrated, the opposite side of the body comprises similar sections aswill be described. Each of the sections of the suit are formed fromsheets such as 20 and 21 sealed together along lines to form channelsfor heat transfer liquid flow as described with respect to garment 10.In this embodiment, no short circuit paths are necessary since eachsection ends at a point corresponding to a flexure point of the body.Therefore no section of the suit is subjected to severe flexure whichwould tend to restrict flow channels during normal articulation of anindividual wearing the suit. Main inlet and outlet manifolds aspreviously described are illustrated at and 91 with continuous flow toall sections of the suit maintained through inlet and outlet hoses 92and 93 respectively joining each section at flexure points of the body.Preferably supplementary inlet and outlet manifolds such as 30 and 31are formed at each end 93 and 95 of each section to maintain desireddistribution of heat in the suit.

The channels can have flow patterns as described with regard toembodiments 10 or 60 or the flow patterns can vary as desired in eachsection. In this embodiment, the cross sectional areas of selected onesof the channels are different from the cross sectional area of selectedother ones of the channels as previously described with respect toembodiment 10 in order to predetermine desired heat transfer liquid flowrates and.

ticular uses In all cases, sealed lines are formed between superimposedsheets as desired to maximize liquid flow channels in a thermalprotection garment and the channels formed are of selected sizes atselected areas of the body to provide desired fluid flow. Thus, by thisinvention, a laminated, tubulated, articulated liquid loop garment isprovided which has soft, broad liquid flow passages offering lowresistance, minimum constriction at jointed areas and assurance againstliquid flow stoppage at jointed areas. Preferably water flow barriersare combined with the liquid loop tubulation manifolds above and belowmajor joints of the body with the flow barriers inhibiting freecirculation of pumping liquid outside the liquid loop garment andproviding liquid interfaces between the skin and outer covering garmentto reduce heat transfer at right angles to the skin while providing asoft, pliant and comfortable garment to wear. Sectionalized garments canbe used to enhance versatility in use and minimize replacement costs aswell as providing for standardization and interchangeability of parts tosuit the proportions of different users thus greatly enhancing utility,effectiveness and economy of providing thermal protection in suchapplications as diving in cold water, exposure to Arctic air, working inrefrigerated rooms and the like. Moreover, thermal protection can beprovided by the use of a cooling heat transfer liquid in the suit ifdesired as in extremely hot environments which might be encountered infighting fires and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid loop garment for thermal protection in hostile temperatureenvironments, said garment constructed and arranged to conformsubstantially to the contours of a body portion over which it is to beused,

said garment having integral arm sections, leg sections and a torsosection and comprising,

a first liquid impervious yieldable sheet,

a second liquid impervious yielding sheet overlying said first sheet,said first and second sheets being of a material such that said sheetscan be sealed to each other,

selected portions of said sheets having spaced sealed lines ofsecurement to form liquid barriers along said sealed lines atpreselected positions between said first and second sheets,

said barriers and sheets defining adjacent liquid channels which act todirect flow of a heat transfer liquid passed into said garment,

selected ones of said sealed lines being discontinuous to form shortcircuit heat transfer liquid flow paths on flexure of said garment atthe elbow and knee areas thereof,

an inlet manifold interconnected with a first plurality of said channelsand an outlet manifold interconnected with a second plurality of saidchannels whereby heat transfer liquid can be passed to said inletmanifold and distributed over the body of an individual with efficientcontrol of temperature variations in said garment.

2. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1 wherein said garmentdefines integral arm sections, leg sections and a torso section.

3. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 2 and furthercomprising hand sections, a head section and flexible tubinginterconnecting said sections with said manifolds.

4. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidoverlying sheets are separated at areas corresponding to flexure areasof a body and a stretch material spans said areas joined to edges ofsaid sheets to permit free articulation of said garment by anindividual.

5. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1 and furthercomprising a third liquid impervious sheet comprising a portion of saidinlet and outlet manifolds, said manifolds defining interconnectingpassageways to selected ones of said channels.

6. A liquid loop garment in accordaNce with claim 1 wherein said inletand outlet manifolds are formed in part by a third liquid impervioussheet and said manifolds extend adjacent each other and transverselyabout the torso section of said garment,

said first and second overlying sheets being separated at areascorresponding to certain flexure areas of the body with a stretchmaterial spanning said areas and joined to edges of said first andsecond sheets to permit free articulation of said garment by anindividual.

7. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1, and furthercomprising a thermal insulating material attached to one of said sheets.

8. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 6 wherein said garmentdefines integral arm sections, ,leg sections and a torso section,separate hand sections, a head section and flexible tubinginterconnecting with said inlet and outlet manifolds.

9. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1 wherein the crosssectional area of selected ones of said channels differs from the crosssectional area of selected other ones of said channels.

1. A liquid loop garment for thermal protection in hostile temperatureenvironments, said garment constructed and arranged to conformsubstantially to the contours of a body portion over which it is to beused, said garment having integral arm sections, leg sections and atorso section and comprising, a first liquid impervious yieldable sheet,a second liquid impervious yieldable sheet overlying said first sheet,said first and second sheets being of a material such that said sheetscan be sealed to each other, selected portions of said sheets havingspaced sealed lines of securement to form liquid barriers along saidsealed lines at preselected positions between said first and secondsheets, said barriers and sheets defining adjacent liquid channels whichact to direct flow of a heat transfer liquid passed into said garment,selected ones of said sealed lines being discontinuous to form shortcircuit heat transfer liquid flow paths on flexure of said garment atthe elbow and knee areas thereof, an inlet manifold interconnected witha first plurality of said channels and an outlet manifold interconnectedwith a second plurality of said channels whereby heat transfer liquidcan be passed to said inlet manifold and distributed over the body of anindividual with efficient control of temperature variations in saidgarment.
 2. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid garment defines integral arm sections, leg sections and a torsosection.
 3. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 2 and furthercomprising hand sections, a head section and flexible tubinginterconnecting said sections with said manifolds.
 4. A liquid loopgarment in accordance with claim 1 wherein said overlying sheets areseparated at areas corresponding to flexure areas of a body and astretch material spans said areas joined to edges of said sheets topermit free articulation of said garment by an individual.
 5. A liquidloop garment in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising a thirdliquid impervious sheet comprising a portion of said inlet and outletmanifolds, said manifolds defining interconnecting passageways toselected ones of said channels.
 6. A liquid loop garment in accordancewith claim 1 wherein said inlet and outlet manifolds are formed in partby a third liquid impervious sheet and said manifolds extend adjacenteach other and transversely about the torso section of said garment,said first and second overlying sheets being separated at areascorresponding to certain flexure areas of the body with a stretchmaterial spanning said areas and joined to edges of said first andsecond sheets to permit free articulation of said garment by anindividual.
 7. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 1, andfurther comprising a thermal insulating material attached to one of saidsheets.
 8. A liquid loop garment in accordance with claim 6 wherein saidgarment defines integral arm sections, leg sections and a torso section,separate hand sections, a head section and flexible tubinginterconnecting with said inlet and outlet manifolds.
 9. A liquid loopgarment in accordance with claim 1 wherein the cross sectional area ofselected ones of said channels differs from the cross sectional area ofselected other ones of said channels.